Anza knives

For a good cheap military knife, it sure seems hard to beat the Cold Steel SRK or Master Hunter

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Benchmade offers a couple patterns that would seem to work as well, like the CSK II and the Nimravus.

John Greco makes several hand made blades that work in that environment like the MST II which offers a really good guard and is very heavy-duty. Not too big with a 6" blade.

Stay safe...

I paid $24 for a file Anza 3-in fixed blade with the hunting style leather sheath a few years ago.

Being a former file, it does need lubrication to prevent rusting. The blade did have an edge, but it is not a razor sharp edge.

i thought it was neat, at a good price, and the handle material was a very pretty reddish wood grain.

It is a great sticker-knife. I think the thickness is about 1/4 inch, and I like it better than the $23 offering from Cold Steel for something like The Spike in tanto, or clip form.

i hear files are pretty hard, but I have no clue how the hardness is compromised when ground down to an edge on one side.

I have not handled an Anza.

I am familiar with knives being made from a bastard file however.
These are most likely W1, W2 steels.

I have a new custom someone made for me, made using a bastard file, in the classic hunting pattern.
This one has blade just shy of 3.5", with a very nice and safe brass guard, and handle of either Elk, or Sambar.

It fits my hand, very handy size, was sharp from the get-go , keeps an edge and is easy to maintain.
It has a neat patina now.

For a small whittling, or desk knife used to open mail and the like, a knife made from a smaller file does not "need" much of guard, if one at all.

For more serious use, I want a guard of some kind. Even if all I am doing is using a 2" blade made from a file to clean panfish, trout, small game or cut small rope messing in a garden or something.

6" file will allow for a full tang, with a handle 4" or a bit more, and the remaining steel for blade is quite useful.


Steve

I have a friend that's an FFL and does the local gun shows, he's also a ANZA rep and sells the knives at the shows. To top that off he even served with Boddington, I never asked but he might be behind the reason ANZA made a Boddington knife.

Out of all the knives that they make, the 3 that I like the most are the Boddington, Duneslayer and Scout.

For an IBA knife, I picked up the EnTrek Lynx for my last deployment. My billet ended up being one of utmost poguery, so can't really testify to the field utility of the Lynx, but it almost perfectly met all my criteria for size, profile, steel, price, etc. Very handy and wicked-sharp.

The sheath had little eyeletes, so was ideal for lacing into my Ka-Bar sheath adaptor (standard MOLLE device) and mounting on my IBA.



6.25" overall length, so a handy little box-opener and strap-cutter.

anza

Bumping an old thread I found with the search function.

I was at a gun show today and kept getting drawn back to the table covered in Anza knives and sheaths. Very interesting knives and in my opinion very attractive.
I kept handling a small knife, stag handle, maybe a 2" blunt (spade?) blade, the asking price was $45 with the sheath.
I do not hunt so it would be more of a simple utility knife for me... but a cool as hell utility knife. I could not make a decision between that one and one slightly larger so I walked away planning on asking questions here about feedback on these knives and making a more informed decision at the next gun show.

Fact is the gun show if still going on tomorrow......

opinions?

What are we defining as "blunt"?

My Leek has a sheepsfoot/Wharncliffe blade and it's got the sharpest tip I've ever felt on a knife...

Bear with me. I am not versed in blade shapes.

It was certainly sharp, by blunt I mean short and stout, the blade was 2 inches long at the most. The cutting edge swept up abruptly putting the point at the spine. It looked heavy duty. I know nothing about the pros and cons of working a file into a usable blade or the maintenance of such a piece but it appears these people do.

The real problem is with a table full in front of me I was having a hard time narrowing it down to just a few choices.

The more I look at those above the handle was definately #3 but I thought the blade was heavier like #2. There were still file teeth on it like #2 also. I guess I'm just going to have to go back and take a better look!

Thanks

Somewhere around here I've got a medium sized Anza hunting knife that I picked up years ago. I talked to the owner of Anza knives at the time and he was bragging about how quickly he could grind a knife out of a file and fit a handle. I was intrigued. But, sadly, it really doesn't hold an edge the way I thought it should. When I asked the Anza guy about this he said that he figured ease of sharpening was a sales feature. Whatever. I no longer use the thing having moved on to knives made of better, and often cheaper steel. I think there's a reason few knifemakers fashion W2 into knives. There are better choices.

A lot of the knives I make are forged from files. I find files make excellent knives and can be heat treated for great edge holding capabilities. Made this nice little skinner last fall.

Yes Nesmuk that is very nice work.

In regards to the Anza I woke up this AM still thinking about them. I went back to the gun show and fondled a few then laid them side by side on the table.

I purchased one closely resembling #2 above in hso's post mine however is 6 1/8" long with a 2 3/4" blade. The spine has a false edge toward the end making the tip slightly upturned. I was really stuck between #3 and #2 but #2 had a much deeper finger grove and the handle wasn't so polished. I figure all the better with slippery hands.

My hands are small and the one I chose "just fits". The edge is sharp but needs a bit of polishing. $40 included a heavy duty sheath. BTW #3 above is $35 today. Had I had more cash I would've struck a deal for a handful of them for gifts as suggested to me in a pm but that's just not the case today. If I like it the next gun show isn't that far off.

The guy running the table gave me his card so I figure he won't mind the advertising if that is allowed here. If not moderators let me know and I'll edit it out or please edit it out yourselves. I think he's just building this website and might be new to the business.
His name is David, the website on his card is BuyAmericanknives.com
I hope that works, I have not tried it yet.

I have one other fixed blade, it's a rather large (in my opinion) Western I bought as a kid, it's a nice knife and dang sharp but this one feels more useful in an everyday way.

Well I've got an edge to polish...

- Mark

edit to add: I dunno about that website buyamericanknives.com. I can't bring anything up with it. The other site on his card DSnorthern.com lists him as an Anza dealer but just the basics and seems to be"under construction" Regardless, seemed like an ok guy and I think I did ok too.

my guard

There are many smiths and craftsmen and tinkerers here at this forum.

How difficult would it be to retrofit some kind of guard on those knives;
depending on the model chosen?

If I just wanted a guard enough, I would find some way of installing one.

There are many sites via the inter net that sell such things premade too.

URL = http://www.buyamericanknives.com

When I go to this URL: http://www.buyamericanknives.com/ I get to a site proclaiming itself to be "DS Northern" and having this logo:
and featuring Anza and Kabar knives on the front page.

Guards

hso said:

The #2 and #3 knives in the image I provided don't need guards because of the pronounced finger choils. I'd be slightly nervous about the #1.

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What hso said.

For my own self, I find that, while a guard is a fine thing for when you're doing the kind of work that requires a thrusting motion that would normally carry the hand forward onto the blade, in most other contexts I find them to be a pain in the neck.

One of the task sets I use to prove a knife is the "kitchen tasks" set. There is nearly no use for a guard in a kitchen setting -- including a camp kitchen -- and the guard seriously impairs one's ability to do close-up work on a cutting board.

On designated fighting knives, or knives whose primary chores will be in the gross chopping and stabbing families, I prefer a guard. For just about all other uses I select knives having little or no guard protruding from the handle.

That's my mileage. Yours may vary.

Unique

Anza in conversation has told me that they have several people in production. They consider each of these a master craftsman and give them leeway in design. No two seem to be exactly alike. I have found more than one Anza in the past I could not put down and had to buy, at the same time for whatever minor reason some that look almost the same do not fit me. I have had no problem with edge maintenance of an Anza over the years.

blindhari